A Thousand- Mile Walk 



than the islands, but no portion of this coast, 

 nor of the flat border which sweeps from Mary 

 land to Texas, is quite free from malaria. All 

 the inhabitants of this region, whether black or 

 white, are liable to be prostrated by the ever- 

 present fever and ague, to say nothing of the 

 plagues of cholera and yellow fever that come 

 and go suddenly like storms, prostrating the 

 population and cutting gaps in it like hurri 

 canes in woods. 



The world, we are told, was made especially 

 for man a presumption not supported by all 

 the facts. A numerous class of men are pain 

 fully astonished whenever they find anything, 

 living or dead, in all God s universe, which they 

 cannot eat or render in some way what they 

 call useful to themselves. They have precise 

 dogmatic insight of the intentions of the Crea 

 tor, and it is hardly possible to be guilty of ir 

 reverence in speaking of their God any more 

 than of heathen idols. He is regarded as a civ 

 ilized, law-abiding gentleman in favor either 

 of a republican form of government or of a 

 [ 136] 



